Coming Up For Air
by mccob
Summary: The town of Bluebell anxiously awaits the return of Dr. Hart...and waits...and waits...and waits some more.
1. Chapter 1

A/N - File this under the "Ways I'd Like To See Season 3 Begin" category.

Coming Up For Air

DAY 1

It was a sunny September morning in Bluebell, warm and comfortable but not hot, and there was a freshness in the air that reminded people of the coming fall and the hope that springs every time this year that Big Blue, Bluebell's high school football team, will have a big season. The birds were singing outside the Mayor's plantation, and it was those birds that the Mayor sat listening to while he ate his cornflakes in the kitchen, and it was those thoughts that occupied the Mayor's mind. That, and of course Annabeth, who was never far from his thoughts and who just then entered the kitchen in her robe looking for a cup of coffee. It was a testament to Annabeth's comfort level with Lavon that she didn't have a stitch of makeup on, even though it was around seven am.

She got her coffee and sat down next to Lavon.

"Today's the day, right?" The Mayor nodded, trying to focus his thoughts on football.

"When's her plane get in?"

"She lands in Mobile around 10 o'clock."

"You gettin' her?"

"Naw, Wade's pickin' her up."

"Wade? WADE?" Annabeth half-stood up in her chair and craned her neck to look out the window. "Have you even seen Wade recently? I don't see his car."

"He called me, AB. Said he'd do it. Relax," Lavon smiled, "it's Wade and Zoe, what can go wrong?"

"Riiight."

Meanwhile, over at the Rammer Jammer, Brick had dropped in to pick up a cup of coffee to go. He stopped to talk to Wally, who was sitting at the end of the counter.

"I heard Dr. Hart was coming back today."

Wally nodded. "Same thing I heard. You ready?"

"Do you mean do I have the storm shutters on?" Brick chuckled. "Not yet, but they're handy if I need 'em."

Wally smiled, took out his handkerchief and wiped his neck. "Be nice to get a breath of fresh air, it's been hot."

"You know," Brick said as he leaned over to the counter to pay Wanda for the coffee, "I may be forced to deny it sometime in the future, but I'm actually looking forward to her coming back. This is a heavy load for just one doctor, you know. And," he lowered his voice conspiratorially and leaned even closer to Wally, "she is a really good doctor, sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Wally raised an eyebrow. "Cut her a break, Brick. Really good ain't nothin' at all, she's a damn fine doctor."

"Well, all I meant was I could trust her with my own care, and I have, and I would be completely comfortable having any of my patients see Dr. Hart, they would receive excellent care."

"That's good to know, Brick," Wally smiled widely.

As Dr. Breeland left the Rammer Jammer with his coffee and headed to the practice, he began to wonder if perhaps Wally had just told him he had switched doctors.

Meanwhile, Lemon came down the counter to refill Wally's cup. "You're here more now than when you owned the place. What's up?"

"My wife says I make her nervous if I stay home during the day, so I have to find a place to be." Lemon nodded. "So, you OK here alone?"

"Alone? Whatever do you mean? Wanda's here, Cody's coming in later, Charlene's in the kitchen, I'm not alone."

"I mean without Wade."

"Wade isn't gone, he just has gone to pick up Dr. Hart at the airport."

"Mmm-hmnh."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Come on, it's Wade and Zoe, anything could happen."

Lemon nodded, pursed her lips, and smiled brightly. "I bet you're right."

Over at the Butter Stick, Delma had dropped in to pick up an assortment of muffins for her bridge club that afternoon. She struck up a conversation with Lucille, the new girl behind the counter.

"Butterscotch, banana, raspberry…let's see, eight women, probably need two dozen, blueberry, mocha chocolate chip, let's see if I get eight kinds I need three apiece, how many do I have?"

"Five, ma'm."

"All right, then make it double berry, lemon poppy seed, and pumpkin. Speakin' o' lemon, that reminds me Dr. Hart's coming back today."

"Excuse me?"

"Lemon is Dr. Breeland's daughter, and Dr. Hart is coming back to Bluebell to share their practice."

"Oh, I see. Is this some kind of big deal?"

"Oh, yeah, she got herself into a mess o' trouble last spring, boyfriend-girlfriend trouble, and then other people's boyfriend-girlfriend trouble, and there was people leavin' town and underwear ALL OVER the highway…"

"Does everybody's personal life play out in front of the whole town?"

"Honey, if you don't gossip in this town," Delma paid for her muffins and leaned in close, "You just end up sittin' in the sun swattin' flies and talkin' to yourself, and that's when they throw a net over ya."

"Gotcha," Lucille nodded.

That afternoon, Brick came out of his office to find three patients still in the waiting room. He walked over to Addie.

"Wasn't Dr. Hart coming back today? Where is she?"

'Dr. Breeland," Addie looked up from her desk, "I understand Dr. Hart was coming back to Bluebell today, but that does not mean she was coming back to WORK today."

"Well, where is she?" Brick repeated.

Addie looked at him sideways. "Dr. Breeland, as you well know, I have not left this office even to go out to lunch today, it is nearly four in the afternoon now, and I have had no phone calls, no emails, no messages of any kind regarding the whereabouts of Dr. Hart."

"That was a rhetorical question, Addie, I'm sorry if I was rude. Please send in the next patient." He turned and went back into his office.

DAY 2

"Isn't that Wade's car?" Annabeth said, looking out the kitchen window toward the gatehouse. She was in her robe, sipping her coffee. Lavon was cooking and there was a smell of bacon in the air. He scooped the bacon out of the frying pan deftly, deposited the strips on paper towels on another plate, and poured the pancake batter in several small dollops around the pan. With his other hand he lightly dusted the pancakes with freshly floured blueberries. Annabeth watched the Mayor cook, his movements graceful, nothing clumsy or unnecessary, almost like a dancer, and thought to herself that a man who could cook, and would, was a keeper.

"Prob'ly is, I hadn't noticed," Lavon said casually, keeping his eyes on the pancakes.

"Did you see Wade last night? Or Zoe, for that matter?"

"Nah, I was watching 'NFL Tonight', I was pretty absorbed."

"You weren't watchin' all night, I know that much," Annabeth grinned.

Lavon grinned right back. "True, but I didn't hear them come in."

"Be nice to see Zoe again," Annabeth mused.

"Mmm," Lavon agreed, "Probably see her around sometime today." He flipped the pancakes and took a sip of his own coffee.

"What's on the agenda for today?"

"Got a meeting with some folks about the mega-mall outside of town. You?"

"I'm pitching a wedding in Daphne."

Lavon plated up the pancakes while Annabeth got the butter and maple syrup from the fridge.

"Were they here when you got home last night?" Annabeth asked.

"Mmm, didn't notice actually."

"Funny we didn't hear them come in," she said as she began to eat.

Over at the Rammer Jammer, Wanda was serving the Rev. Mayfair his breakfast and re-filling his cup.

"So when's your wife coming back?" Wanda asked.

"By the end of the week, I hope," the Reverend said, tucking into his grits and eggs. "She says her sister's cast is coming off day after tomorrow, she ought to be back soon after that."

"This the longest y'all been apart?"

"Oh my yes, it'll be six weeks this Friday. Up until now, we've never spent a night apart. She told me last night," the Reverend chuckled, "she should do this every twenty years or so, just to freshen things up, but she couldn't do it any oftener than that."

"Gosh, that's sweet," Wanda gushed. "Hey, you know what else is sweet? Dr. Hart came back to Bluebell yesterday, or at least she was supposed to, I haven't seen her, and of course you know Wade, he chased her halfway across Alabama last spring just to tell her loves her, that's the story anyway, and well, they're back together, isn't that excitin'?"

Rev. Mayfair stopped eating for a moment and stared thoughtfully at Wanda.

"You know, that is kind of romantic."

"It's just like a fairy-tale," Wanda sighed.

In the town square that afternoon, Shula and Big Ethel were sitting on a bench, resting their feet, and discussing the New York doctor.

"You know, I really don't understand it," Big Ethel was saying. "She was supposed to go up to New York for the weekend, but then she saves that guy on the plane, becomes a hero, then ends up stayin' the whole summer. You'd think New York'd be a big enough place they have heroes there all the time, wouldn't take her three months to do her victory celebratin'."

"I don't think that was it at all, Ethel," Shula replied. "It had to have had somethin' to do with all the fireworks goin' on, George closin' up his practice to go drinkin', Tansy drivin' off th'owin' his clothes out da winda, that's man-woman trouble you ask me. I heard Dr. Hart tol' George he was the one for her."

"Didn't she have her chance when George threw Lemon over?"

"Didn't take it," Shula shook her head. "What I heard was she was tryin' to be noble but just couldn't make up her mind how noble, and all the time she had that Kinsella boy on the side."

"So she was just playing with him, then?"

"Dunno 'bout that neither, cause I heard tell they was together a lot longer than we know, and even when they was broke up they was still together, if you know what I mean, and then that whole cheating thing…"

"That poor Dr. Hart, she's such a sweet little thing…"

"And I heard they got back together, AGAIN, but this time it was only about a day or so and then POOF, gone with the wind."

"But Wade's been…smilin'…all summer."

"Exactly, you mark my words, she'll be back, if not today then tomorrow for sure."

"Brick'll blow a gasket."

"Nah, if she can cover his huntin' trips and the Alabama-Florida game, he'll be fine."

That evening, when Annabeth pulled into the plantation driveway, she saw Wade's car parked by the gatehouse, as if it had not moved since the morning. Both the gatehouse and the carriage house looked unoccupied. Annabeth thought that was a little odd, but shrugged and dismissed it from her mind as she went inside.

It was a little more than hour later when Lavon got back to the plantation. He parked the Navigator and glanced over at the gatehouse. He thought he saw a flickering light in one of the windows, but it could just as easily have been a reflection from a passing car's headlights. Other than that, the gatehouse looked as empty as the carriage house had been all summer. Wade did say they had things to talk about, Lavon remembered, and he smiled to himself remembering Wade's reaction when he had first asked Zoe if they could talk. Wade had said, "She looked at me like I was from Mars and said 'Talk? We don't talk." As Lavon walked up the front steps, he hoped his friend was having a good talk.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Hart of Dixie.

Coming Up For Air, Ch. 2

DAY 3

It was mid morning in Bluebell, the Rammer Jammer was fairly quiet, just a few late breakfast customers lingering over their coffee and newspapers, when Dr. Brick Breeland walked up to the counter. Seeing him enter, his daughter Lemon wordlessly fixed his coffee to go (dark roast, two sugars, no cream) and delivered it to the counter at almost the same moment. Brick was not smiling.

"Where is she?" he demanded as he leaned over the counter and lowered his voice.

Lemon was smiling. "Am I suddenly the seer of Bluebell? I must be, if I am being asked to decipher your question as well as answer it."

"You know perfectly well who I'm talking about, I'm talking about the other half of my, our, practice, who was last seen, I believe, or at least the rumor is, she was last seen with your business partner, that's who I'm talking about, and where is she? And by the way, where is HE? Surely you're not doing all this by yourself!"

"Daddy, everything's fine, just some things aren't getting done is all, nothing really critical, although we will need to inventory the freezer by the end of the week, and I just hate that…"

"Are you going to answer my question, Lemon?"

"Eventually, Daddy, eventually, you really must be careful of rumors, you know, things can get blown out of proportion so easily. The last time I talked to Wade, he said he and Dr. Hart had a lot to talk about, and don't expect him right away, so I'm not…expecting him right away."

"Lemon, that may or may not answer the question of when, but I want to know WHERE! As in WHERE is my replacement for this weekend! The 'Tide's playing Georgia, I've been cooped up in that practice all summer, she said she'd be here this week…"

"Daddy, it'll be fine, what did you do when Dr. Wilkes died?"

"That's not the point, it's her half of the practice, I want her here and I want her here now. You must know where she is."

"Daddy, don't be a child, I can only guess, and besides, if Wade and Dr. Hart are together, I'm sure they don't want to be disturbed, and furthermore, guesses aren't very reliable."

"I'll bet your guesses are."

"Daddy, you're such a flatterer."

"So you're not going to tell me."

"That'll be a buck twenty-five for the coffee."

Excerpt from the Bluebell Blawker –

_It's day three of the Hart Watch, and still no sign of our elusive Yankee doctor. The Blawker has learned that a Dr. Zoe Hart was booked on a flight from Atlanta to Mobile, but whether or not she took that flight we have not been able to determine. Coincidentally, or perhaps not so coincidentally, rising young Bluebell businessman and publican Wade Kinsella has also not been seen since he went to the airport to pick up our good doctor, and in fact no one actually saw him leave for or return from the airport. The Sheriff says no missing persons reports have been filed, and there is no evidence whatsoever of foul play…_

"Mr. Kinsella, what a surprise! What can I get you?" Lemon noted that Earl Kinsella appeared fairly clean and completely sober as she dusted off the counter in front of him. His breath was actually, well, didn't smell of alcohol anyway.

"Just a cup of coffee, Lemon, thanks."

She got it for him. "It's truly a pleasure to see you, Mr. Kinsella, especially…"

"Sober?" he grinned.

"Yes, I think that is the word."

"Thank you, I've been workin' on it." Lemon smiled warmly. It had been many years since Lemon had seen Earl Kinsella sober, but she had fond memories of those times, times when Wade and Jesse went everywhere together, back when they were children, back when Lemon had a mother.

Earl set down his coffee cup softly and leaned over a little closer to Lemon. "Wade's here, isn't he?"

It was a statement more than a question, and Lemon considered it carefully. Obviously Wade wasn't in the dining room, or sitting at the bar with them, and although it was theoretically possible that Wade could be in the office or the kitchen or the storeroom, for that matter, Lemon was quite sure Earl didn't mean that, he was asking if Wade was in Bluebell.

"Yes," she said in a low voice, almost a whisper.

Earl nodded.

"With that pretty doctor?"

Again, Lemon considered carefully. She looked at Earl, and he was looking back at her with clear eyes, clear eyes for the first time in years, and somehow Lemon knew why, and she knew she would answer.

"Yes."

Earl just nodded again and sat back in his chair. Lemon smiled and found something to do at the other end of the bar. A few minutes later, Earl was gone, and as Lemon picked up his coffee cup she realized he hadn't paid.

That night, in the kitchen of the Mayor's plantation, Lavon and Annabeth are having a brandy.

"You know what's going on, don't you," Annabeth said, giving Lavon that scrunched up eye look that for some reason he found so endearing.

"Lavon Hayes knows nothing about nothing, except what he needs to know."

"Now, I know I've asked you this before, but are you sure Wade went to pick up Zoe, because that car has been sitting there for days collecting leaves."

"Yes, I'm sure, and you know, they could have stopped off at a little bed and breakfast on the way back."

"Lavon, you know as well as I do there are no b-and-b's between Mobile and here."

"Well, who says they have to come directly back to Bluebell? Maybe they went on to Pensacola, or back to New Orleans, you know they've both been working hard this summer and haven't taken any time off."

Annabeth just lowered her head and stared at Lavon in disbelief.

"That doesn't explain the CAR. How'd they get someplace else when the car is here? Alright, I get it, a need to know basis only. For Heaven's sake, Lavon, you'd think she works for the CIA."

"You should be careful where you say that," Lavon smiled, "it could get a lot of people in trouble."

DAY 4

Excerpt from the Bluebell Blawker –

_Still no sign of Bluebell's most sought after couple, who have reportedly arrived back in town incognito and are, apparently, now in hiding. Suspicion has fallen, quite naturally, on the Mayor's plantation, where both members of this duo used to reside and one still does. Mayor Hayes, however, has refused comment. Meanwhile, down at the Rammer Jammer, you can, if you so desire, place a small wager on the date of the first sighting of either Dr. Zoe Hart or Wade Kinsella…_

Lemon stood leaning at the end of the bar, Wally with his cup of coffee next to her, and surveyed the scene at the Rammer Jammer. The place was full, which was good, and it was mid-afternoon, which was also good, since it was a slow time of the day anyway, but Lemon thought WHAT could possibly draw out half the population of Bluebell (she didn't see a tourist in the room), and what were these people doing here during working hours, and WHO was doing those jobs that these people were supposed to be doing? Of course, she thought, nodding her head, the answer was right in front of her. Up on a big whiteboard near the back was clipped an oversize calendar where people, for five dollars, could bet on the "First Sighting" date by putting their initials in the box. There was no mention on the calendar anywhere of the first sighting of what. There was no need. There were, however, still disagreements over some of the finer points.

"I think we can all agree that the most likely first sighting will be on the plantation," Tom Long said, looking around the room, "so I think it just makes sense to define first sighting as when Lavon or Annabeth sees one or the other, and they self-report on the date and time, although a picture with a time-stamp would be nice."

"Actually," Dash Dewitt interjected from his seat near the front of the gathering, "it would be more than helpful if there was a photograph. It would nail down the sighting to the microsecond, and if it was around midnight, say, at the Dixie Stop, it would settle the question of what day."

"Or it could be a tie-breaker," Wanda added, "although, what about people who don't go around in their pajamas with their cell phones and they just see something out the window but can't take a picture?"

"That's true," Tom said, "not everyone does that."

"I think everyone in this town is basically honest," the Rev. Mayfair said, "so I think we can trust people to report the right time, even without proof."

"And we wouldn't want to discriminate against the technologically-challenged," Dash added.

"That's true, too, Wanda," said Tom as he turned to what he still thought of as his bride, clasped her hands in his and gazed meaningfully into her eyes.

Wanda gazed right back. "You're so right, Tom."

"What time are we talking about?" Becky Hilson spoke up from the back. "Everybody's watch is different."

"We're talkin' Rammer Jammer time, Mrs. Hilson," Dash said, waving his free hand toward the clock, the other perched on his walking stick. "Everyone who wishes to do so, and I urge you all to do so, should either synchronize your timepiece to the Rammer Jammer's clock, or make note of the discrepancy, plus or minus, so in the event of any dispute we can adjudicate."

Cricket raised her hand and waved it, as if in class. "Now, does this mean first sighting as a couple, or individually at different locations?"

The crowd went quiet for a bit. The Rev. Mayfair finally broke the silence. "I think it would be fair to include individual sightings at different locations, as long as it was on the same day."

"So if one were to be seen here, say, just before midnight, and the other at the Dixie Stop just a few minutes later when it was the next day, that wouldn't count?" Tom mused.

"No, Tom, I think if the sightings were within 24 hours of each other, regardless of the day, that would count as if the first sighting was actually the First Sighting, if you see what I mean," the Reverend said, speaking slowly so as not to confuse himself. Tom nodded.

Meanwhile, back at the bar, Lemon turned to Wally. "Don't you find all this a little…distasteful?"

Wally cocked his head, pursed his lips, thought a minute. "Quite possibly, but you know I'm reminded of a thing I heard on a record. You familiar with Hank Williams Jr.? Naw, I thought not, he's old school, he sings a lot about his daddy, Hank Williams, now he's REAL old school, you know the Williams boys are Alabama born and bred, well anyway Hank Jr. does this song, and the intro is spoken, he says he had a dream last night, he heard his momma talkin' to his daddy, his momma sayin' 'Bocephus', that's Hank Jr.'s nickname, don't ask me why, 'wants to boogie-woogie.' He says he heard daddy's reply to momma, 'Audrey, it's in him and it's got to come OUT!' It's like that here, this little crazy business is in THEM and it's got to come OUT."

Lemon shook her head as she watched the crowd. "I couldn't stop it anyway."

Wally nodded his head and took a sip of his coffee. "Bes' not to try."

Later that night, at the plantation, Lavon and Annabeth were in bed watching the Discovery Channel. They had on a program about whales. They were on the verge of falling asleep, that halfway point between wakefulness and slumber, when Annabeth opened her eyes and caught a fragment from the program.

"…_adult sperm whales have been known to dive thousands of feet for food and hold their breath for six hours…"_

"Wow, think of that," Annabeth said sleepily, "holding your breath for six hours."

"Mmm," mumbled Lavon softly, "think of this. Even whales have to come up for air sometime."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N - This part was going to be shorter, but the characters kind of took over. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to review, and thanks for all the kind words.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hart of Dixie, I am a mere fan.

Coming Up For Air Ch. 3

DAY 5

"It's Thursday, Addie, Alabama versus Georgia this Saturday, Addie," Brick said, as if his next words were 'the President of the United States, Addie', but of course they weren't. Brick had to watch his words carefully now, since Addie had banned the phrase 'where is she?' from the office.

The nurse practitioner/receptionist/office manager/teen-confidante and chief lollypop dispenser smiled up at Brick automatically from behind her desk and handed him the next patient's records. She too was choosing her words carefully.

"Yes it is."

Meanwhile, down at the Rammer Jammer, Charlene was informing Lemon that the dishwasher had barely made it through breakfast rush, and she wasn't sure it would make it through lunch.

"Wade's been keepin' this machine runnin' with duct tape and balin' wire, Lemon, he's put in half the parts that are on it now," Charlene was saying, "if he was here I wouldn't worry, but if we get backed up during lunch it'll be hell on wheels."

With Wade gone, at least temporarily, Lemon was beginning to realize just how much he did around there to keep things running smoothly, and she began to feel her heart rate go up. Why were people always coming to HER with their problems? Because, she realized with a start, she was the boss. Well, all right then, she thought, and since she was the boss it was time to delegate.

"What do you suggest?" Lemon finally asked.

"Well, Elwood, he works down at the hardware store, he's been workin' with Wade now and then on stuff around here, you know, showin' an interest in breakin' into the restaurant business, from the bottom up, so to speak, so he could probably help us out, but he's working at the hardware store today."

"I want him here, this morning, Charlene," Lemon said decisively, "I'll pay whatever he asks, but I want that machine fixed by lunch. Arrange it." Lemon turned and walked out of the kitchen, feeling like the little Dutch boy with his finger in the dike, hoping there weren't any more leaks, as least just yet.

Excerpt from the Bluebell Blawker –

_Zadewatch, Day Five. Residents of Bluebell remain on high alert for Dr. Zoe Hart and Wade Kinsella, who by all accounts have come back to Bluebell only to fall off the grid. The whereabouts of these erstwhile lovebirds is the topic of conversation all over town. The Blawker spoke with town resident Shula Whitaker just this morning._

…_You know, Dash, you may recall I was one of Dr. Hart's first regular patients, she is such a sweet little thing, such a good listener, I surely hope nothing has happened to her, although I did hear tell…_

…_Now Shula, you don't want to go startin' any…_

…_that she might be workin' for the CIA, which could account for her not…_

…_rumors, that would be…_

…_although you do hear tell all the time about people being abducted by aliens in little out of the way places like Bluebell…_

…_irresponsible._

_For those of you following online, click this link to the pictures that Blawker Photographic Correspondent Rose Hattenbarger has taken of the plantation over the last few days…_

It was about eleven that morning when Lemon made it back to the kitchen to find a boy, really, closing up the dishwasher and preparing to leave. He had just snapped the bottom panel closed when Lemon entered the kitchen and he saw her, but he had forgotten to close the upper door so when he rose to greet her he hit his head.

"Ow," the boy said, rubbing his head and staying about half bent over.

"Gosh, are you all right?" Lemon rushed forward, grasping his forearm and looking into his eyes. "Do you need some ice for your head?"

"No ma'am, I should be OK," the boy said as he looked up into Lemon's face from a kind of half-crouch. It was at that moment that the boy, whose name was Elwood, fell in love. Surely the angels in heaven were missing one of their number, surely, somewhere, at that moment, the sky cleared, the angels sang, and there was music in the air, because this vision had descended from heaven to stand in front of him with a look of such worry and concern that his heart melted at the sight.

Lemon, unaware of the boy's reaction to her, asked Charlene for a cold pak as she walked him over to the office to find a seat. After she got him settled, and Charlene brought the cold pak, Lemon settled herself on a corner of the desk and smoothed her dress.

"I want to thank you, Elwood, it is Elwood, isn't it? I want to thank you for fixing our dishwasher so promptly."

"Naw, thank you for thinkin' of me, ma'am," mumbled Elwood, holding the cold pak to his head, so embarrassed at sitting so close to a goddess he could hardly look at her, yet at the same time he could barely tear his eyes away, so as a result he didn't know where to put his eyes or his hands either, so he could only sit and fidget. "All's I did was replace the upper main gasket and three of the water jet nozzles, Wade and I did the other one a few weeks back but we didn't have time to do those three. I coulda fixed 'em, but replacin's more permanent, more expensive though, hope you don't mind…" Suddenly Elwood panicked, thinking Lemon would accuse him of padding the bill.

"No, no, it's fine, Elwood, thank you again, I think replacing the jets is a good idea," Lemon tried to re-assure the boy, who seemed awfully nervous. "How much do I owe you?"

"Well, hell, ma'am…"

"Elwood, please, I am not your mother's age, call me Lemon. How much do I owe you? Surely the parts alone…"

"Well, Ms. Breeland…Lemon…I…uh,"

"Wait a moment," Lemon said as she leaned back a little and opened one of the desk drawers, pulling out a bank bag, and in the process giving Elwood a flash of lower leg that he was sure was a vision he would carry to his grave. Lemon sat up, opened the bag, pulled out a roll of cash, peeled off three twenties, folded them in half, and stuffed them in the breast pocket of Elwood's shirt. At her touch, Elwood felt a thrill such as he had never felt before. "Will that be enough?"

Elwood was barely able to nod yes.

"Oh, and before you go," Lemon said as she stood up, "do you have a card or something so we can get in touch with you if we need you?"

"No, Ms. Breeland, but you can call this number," he scribbled one down on the notepad Lemon handed him, "anytime."

"OK, well, thanks a lot, I'm sure we'll be in touch," Lemon swept him out the back door. She turned to find Charlene watching her. "I think he could be very useful."

"I think you have an admirer," Charlene said with a smile.

"Oh, don't be silly," Lemon waved her hand, as if the idea was a pesky insect she could brush off.

"I've seen that look," Charlene said, shaking her head. "That boy would crawl across hot coals for you."

"Ridiculous." Lemon waved both hands this time as if to fly away, which she did; relieved that one more problem had been solved without Wade's input, one more crisis dealt with in her own way, and with the dawning realization that there was no way she could say she couldn't do a job that she was already doing.

Which was good, because at that moment her father entered the Rammer Jammer with a look on his face that did not bode well. Dr. Brick Breeland seemed both focused and distracted, like a man being eaten by horseflies at a tennis match. Lemon recognized the approaching crisis immediately, and began searching desperately through her mind for a possible solution as she walked up to meet him at the bar.

"Lunch, honey, I think I need some lunch," Brick said. "I tell you, my nerves are goin' through hell's carwash, Lemonade, feel that," he thrust out his wrist "pulse is up, blood pressure's up, are my eyes bulgin'?" he leaned over the counter up close so Lemon could see his eyes.

"No, Daddy, you look fine, just kind of frazzled is all. I know what you want," Lemon slapped the bar for emphasis, which unfortunately made Brick jump a little. Actually a little more than a little. "Turkey club on wheat, light on the mayo, unsweetened iced tea, easy on the stomach. Got that Charlene? I got the tea."

A plan began to form.

Lemon walked down to the cooler, got a large glass beer stein from over the bar, filled it with ice and left it below bar level as she added a generous ounce or perhaps two ounces of Stolichnaya, then poured in the unsweetened ice tea before bringing it up to bar level and topping it off with a lemon slice. Lemon figured she could always apologize later for getting her father drunk, but she knew him well enough to know he wouldn't treat anyone if he knew he had been drinking, and he would eventually figure out that he had indeed been drinking…the idea is to get him to RELAX and get someone to cover for him this weekend. It seemed like such a good idea. What could go wrong? She'd fixed the dishwasher crisis, hadn't she?

By mid-afternoon Brick was hammered and Rose Hattenbarger was off in the non-alcohol section with her laptop, explaining to several people her latest theory about the mystery of Wade and Zoe.

"See, I've managed to rig up these three stationary cameras around the plantation, on public property, they can all be monitored and controlled from this laptop, and I have DVR on demand for any of them, up to, of course, my limits of storage."

"So you've got them, like, under 24-hour surveillance?" One of the boys asked, somewhat incuriously.

"No, no, essentially no, no, it's like, not really, no, well, sort of, in a way, but no, it's not like I'm the CIA or anything, no, I don't do that, no, no."

"OK, cool."

"Really, it's not like that at all."

"Really, Rose, it's cool, just show us the thing."

"Well, anyway," Rose went on to her slide show, suddenly with a new perspective on her project and deeply unsettled at what she had done in the name of 'the people's right to know', as she saw it, "if we focus in on this area of the gatehouse here, just near the back corner, and zoom in, then time-lapse those pictures, we see this," which appears to be a fairly dark and fuzzy screen with some dim shapes, "which, because of the pattern of the leaves, clearly indicates human foot traffic."

"What if it's a squirrel?" Asked a tall boy in the second row of observers around Rose's table, pronouncing it like it was one long muddy syllable, SKWURL.

"Because there is no photographic evidence of a SKWURL, Elwood Freiburghouse," Rose snapped impatiently, "but there is evidence of random leaf disturbance that could only be made by an animal which walked on two pretty large feet, and that could only be a human…or a bear. But there is no photographic evidence of a bear, either, and that would be pretty hard to miss…BUT," here Rose spread her hands, arms in, palms up, on either side of her shoulders in the universal gesture for TA-DA, "check this out, a slide show of the side of the house, and you can watch flickering candlelight through the window."

Everyone surrounding Rose ooh'd and aah'd at the pretty light show on the screen, while Rose began to feel worse and worse, like she was invading someone's privacy, specifically her friend Zoe's privacy, which was definitely different than invading just any old person's privacy. However, as her slide slow ran, Rose realized that cat was already out of the bag, and while whether she should shut these cameras down or not was a question she would have to ask herself again later, whatever damage that might have been done had already been done.

"So there you have it," Rose said with a lot less enthusiasm than she expected she would have had, "we're pretty sure they're in there, and ferrying supplies through the back." At that, Rose blushed, now fully convinced she was going to hell for having betrayed a confidence.

"Ah still think it's a SKWURL, them lights don't prove anything," Elwood muttered just loud enough for Rose to hear.

As Rose turned off the slide show, the screen went back to split screen stills of all three cameras, and in the middle screen there was a man standing in the middle of the road in front of the mayor's plantation. Rose's eyes widened as she zeroed in on that camera and enabled real time DVR.

"Let's see if I can zoom in and find out who this is," she said as she manipulated the camera. "Mmm, hard to tell from the back, let's see…wait a minute…that looks like Dr. Breeland!"

"What!" There was a collective gasp from the crowd as people turned to the bar and found Brick had gone.

"What did you say? What about Dr. Breeland?" Lemon asked as she came through the door from a last minute afternoon meeting with the fish wholesalers. Before she left she had poured the rest of the Stoli bottle into the unsweetened ice tea and told Wanda to keep her Daddy's glass filled with fresh ice and lemon slices and this mixture and he'd be fine, which she did and he was, at least until he staggered, unnoticed, out of the Rammer Jammer and down to the Mayor's plantation, or at least that's what Lemon saw on Rose's laptop screen, her Daddy carrying some kind of…something…just sort of softly swaying in the breeze. She pulled out her phone and dialed a number she had to punch in manually because she had deleted it from speed dial.

"Lavon? Lemon. We need to circle the wagons. Don't ask me how I know, but Daddy is outside your house now, he's really really drunk and I think he's pissed off that Dr. Hart is deliberately waiting until it's too late to relieve him so he can go to his football thingy this weekend, can you please just make sure he doesn't make a fool of himself? Thank you so much."

Lavon looked out his front window and saw Brick in front of the iron gate, swaying a little and keeping himself up by leaning on a shop whisk broom, one of those patio types with the stiff bristles, with the broom side under his arm and the handle pointing down, like a big dusty crutch. The Mayor sighed, dialed the sheriff on his speed dial, asked him to meet him at the plantation, shook his head, and went out to meet the doctor.

"Brick, how ya doin'," Lavon smiled.

"Lavon, Lavon, how are you, my friend," Brick waved his free hand expansively and somehow managed not to fall over.

"I'm good, Brick, real good, how can I help you?"

"I believe," Brick said as he staggered forward a bit, catching the head of the broom as it fell forward and reversing it so the wide sweeping part was on the bottom and able to catch him, "as do these people behind me, I might add," he lurched one of his arms back as if to indicate a vast throng, "that you are harboring a fugitive from medicine." He threw his head back and opened his eyes wide on the last syllable. "I am astonished, Mayor, absolutely fligger-busted," Lavon thought that's what it sounded like anyway, "that you would do such a thing. I demand the miscreant immediately."

With that, Brick staggered back a few steps and threw his arms wide, just like the guy in 'Network', whereupon the broom handle fell back against him and nearly toppled him over.

"You know, Brick, I think you've had a little too much to drink today, why don't you just go home and sleep it off? Tomorrow's a brand new day, you know." Lavon could see Sheriff Bill pulling up quietly behind Brick and getting out of the car slowly.

"I may have had a couple of drinks, yes, but that doesn't change the fact that our doctor is hiding out behind these castle walls, and I want to know why!"

Lavon and Bill exchanged looks. 'Castle walls'?

"In fact, that's why the whole village," Brick once again lurched his arm around to indicate a whole village, in the process spinning himself around, "has come here with torches and pitchforks," Brick raised his broom, brushes up, "to demand answers to our legitimate questions. WHY?" Brick shouted to the sky, brandishing the broom again, his other hand waving in the air as if appealing to the gods.

"Brick," said Bill gently as he walked up to the doctor, "let's get you home."

"Careful, Bill, those torches'll burn your arm clean off," Brick warned the sheriff with his free hand.

"Oh, it's OK, Brick, that one's gone out," Bill said as he took the doctor by the elbow and guided him into the back seat of the cruiser.

Brick stared blankly at the patio broom. "You mean this isn't on fire anymore?"

"That's right, Brick, let me have that," Bill said quietly as he took the broom and got Brick settled in the back, where he curled up, closed his eyes and appeared to go to sleep.

"Geez, that's embarrassin'," Lavon said to Bill as the Sheriff walked around the cruiser to get in his car.

"I'll get him home, pour him into bed, or maybe Lemon can do it, he'll have a head in the mornin', though." Bill paused with one foot in the cruiser. "There are some things that some folks would rather forget."

"Very true, Sheriff, very true. Thanks for stopping by."

Bill nodded, tipped his hat, got in the cruiser, and took off.

"That IS embarrassing," Rose Hattenbarger agreed as she tapped the 'stop recording' button on her remotely controlled camera and re-named the file 'Dr. Breeland'. Of course, everyone in the Rammer Jammer had seen it happening live like it was on CNN, for crying out loud, but it was nice to know the photographic evidence was on her computer.

Meanwhile, back at the plantation, Lavon trudged back up the walk to the front door and walked in, where he was met by Annabeth.

"You poor thing," she said.

"I don't know how much more of this I can take," Lavon said, "feels like my nerves have been through hell's car wash."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N - Lots of folks wondering about Zade, where are they? Here they are, hope you aren't disappointed.

Disclaimer: Me no own Hart of Dixie

Coming Up For Air Ch. 4

DAY 6

It was still early that Friday in Bluebell, but it was already hot. Rose Hattenbarger, accompanied by Elwood Freiburghouse, was collecting the cameras she had set around the Mayor's plantation. Rose wanted to pick them up before school, which was why she was there about 7am, and she was also hoping to avoid talking to Elwood, or least talking about cameras, focal length, and spy technology, which were the only interests Elwood had, apparently, other than working on all kinds of machinery. Rose had nearly given up hope that Elwood would want to talk about her, and if she wasn't the topic of conversation, and her feelings for him, then Rose decided she just didn't walk to talk, period. And why was it that the girls always had to do all of the work in the relationship, anyway?, she wondered, filing that away to ask Zoe the next time she saw her, which made Rose blush thinking about how she had spied on her friend, which made Elwood stop talking about optical zoom, in fact it made him stop walking entirely as he stared at Rose.

"Gosh, you're awfully pretty in the morning light," Elwood blurted out, as he too suddenly blushed, his eyes widening, as it began to sink in what he had just said.

Rose stopped walking and looked at Elwood, smiling her biggest smile. "Thank you, that's really sweet."

"You're welcome," Elwood said, as he stared at the ground and stuck his hands in his pockets, not knowing what else to say or do. As they resumed their walk toward school, in silence, all the cameras in hand, Elwood began to wonder if it was possible to love two women at the same time. At the same time, Rose began to wonder if Elwood had a crush on someone else because it always seemed to work out that way.

Across the square, Delma and Big Ethel were seated on one of the benches with their fans and umbrellas.

"Gonna be a hot one," Delma said.

Big Ethel nodded. "Take the skin right off yo' back."

"How you reckon Brick be feelin' this mornin'?"

"Like dyin' be an improvement."

"Poor man. It's the uncertainty gets to 'em. Brick's good under pressure, but he can't handle uncertainty."

"But Delma, mos' everything in life is uncertain!"

"Exactly, that's what makes it so hard."

Shula Whitaker joined the ladies on the bench. "Oo-ee gonna be a hot one, don't-take-your-shoes-off-cause-it'll-burn-your-fe et-up-to-your-knees hot."

"Shula, what's this I hear about that itty-bitty doctor and the CIA? That's just foolishness and you know it!"

"I'm just passin' on what I hear, and it could explain a lot of things," Shula said defensively.

"Just proves you got too much time on your hands thinkin' up conspiracies, next thing you know you'll have the birds conspirin' with the bees."

"That could explain a lot too," Shula insisted.

Over at the Rammer Jammer, Shady Hilson had stopped off to get a cup of coffee to go before heading to the hardware store. Lemon served him.

"Hey, Lemon, I heard about your Daddy, how is he?"

"Doubt he's up yet," Lemon said with a small laugh, "he's been working so hard this summer you know, no days off really, he needs to relax…"

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Shady grinned, "say, I haven't seen Wade around, has he run off with our Yankee doctor?"

"Yes, yes, apparently he has," Lemon laughed gaily as she rang Shady up, gave him his change, and closed the register. She turned away from the dining room, leaned on the bar, crossed her arms and scowled. Where is he, she thought, and DAMN if it wasn't hot already.

It was Tom, of course, who brought the bad news, limping into the Rammer Jammer that afternoon favoring his knee. Lemon walked up to him with a worried look as Tom grabbed a chair and sat down.

"Please tell me that isn't what I think it is," Lemon pleaded.

"I'm afraid it is," Tom said.

"Rita Urban's rooster?"

Tom held his hands together next to his head like a pillow.

"Well," Lemon practically shouted, throwing her gaze, her head, and her arms skyward, "at least the heat'll break tonight." She headed back to the office with an air of defeat, while the bartender changed the TV to the Weather Channel so customers could watch the approaching Canadian cool front that would produce lightning, thunderstorms, and possibly hail and high winds tonight. Tom just shook his head, why did people need proof, the rooster was always right.

It wasn't the thunderstorms or high winds that awoke the Mayor at the plantation that night, though. It was something else, because the house was quiet, Annabeth breathing softly beside him. He got up, put his robe on and went downstairs. The kitchen light was on.

What Lavon saw in the kitchen doorway was a little hard to absorb, at first, and he had to blink several times to make sure he was seeing what he was seeing. There, in front of him, in matching white terry cloth robes, were Wade and Zoe, rifling his kitchen cabinets. They weren't just rifling his cabinets, though, it was the WAY they were rifling his cabinets that was kind of…amazing. Wade was looking in all the upper cabinets, Zoe in the lower, as they circled the kitchen towards each other, and their bodies were moving to some unheard music, swaying back and forth, rocking on their feet, all their searching movements were efficient and in tune, their heads bobbing in time, in fact, ALL their moves were in time, just subtle shifts of stance or facial expression as they looked and danced, in very small ways, around the kitchen. Lavon had this vision of perfect symmetry when they both turned and saw him at the same time.

"Oh, hey Lavon," they both said at the same time, same inflection, same wide smile.

"Hey," Lavon nodded, clearly mystified. "Nice to see y'all."

They both smiled and nodded, and Lavon clearly saw a stereo effect, they held their heads the same, it was same kind of smile, both sets of eyes were clear and warm and glowing.

"You know there's a pool out on when you'll be spotted first," Lavon said, "what time is it?"

Wade and Zoe just looked at each other and grinned and said "Hmph" in exactly the same way, then looked at the clock on the wall over Lavon's head and said, in unison, "Twenty of twelve."

Lavon glanced back and forth between his friends with an uncertain smile on his face. "Could you guys stop that…it's kinda creepy?"

"Stop what?" they both said, then laughed as Wade made a gesture to Zoe to go ahead and he looked at his feet. It was only then that they stopped being mirror images of each other in the kitchen that night.

Zoe looked directly into Lavon's eyes.

"We need chocolate."

Once again Lavon was caught off-guard.

"Um, the only chocolate I have is in my baking stuff, semi-sweet chips," he gestured toward a cabinet at Zoe's feet.

With a gleam in her eye, Zoe crouched down, opened the cabinet door, and seized the bag of chocolate chips triumphantly. She stood up, holding the bag high.

"Success!"

"Perfect," smiled Wade.

At almost the same moment, the first rumbles of thunder could be heard.

"Gotta get back," they both said merrily as they headed for the kitchen door.

"You know, it's a shame," said Lavon, stuck for anything else to say to his friends, "if it was only twenty minutes later, I would have won the pool, I was the only one to pick over on the over-under a week."

Both Wade and Zoe looked at Lavon and shrugged, and Wade said, "It's your call, man," as if to say it was entirely up to Lavon whether he would say he saw them at 11:40 or 12:05, and then they did what Lavon later would have a hard time explaining, describing, or understanding.

Wade held open the kitchen door with his right hand, bowing slightly, and holding his left arm up in the air as if he were a southern-friend Baryshnikov, Zoe pirouetted prettily underneath, they clasped hands and, like Fred and Ginger, were gone into the night as the first large raindrops began to fall.

Lavon remained in the kitchen doorway with a big smile on his face, stunned. The rain began to fall in earnest, big gushets of water cascading off the plantation roof like an Amazon waterfall. He thought of his friends, how happy they seemed, and how perhaps things could get back to normal around here, depending on how you define normal. He even thought briefly about mis-reporting the time he saw them so he could win the pool, but only briefly, for he knew above all else Lavon Hayes does not cheat.

He chuckled and turned to go back upstairs. As he was just about to turn off the light, he spotted Annabeth on the landing of the stairs. She raised her eyebrows and turned her head coquettishly, glancing at her watch to indicate she knew what time it was. Lavon laughed softly, she knew what he had been thinking about, and she also knew the decision he had reached, and equally important, she knew he knew she knew.

As Lavon walked past Annabeth up the stairs, trailing his fingers along her arm, she very quietly and surreptitiously pumped her other arm in victory and mouthed the word 'yes', for what Lavon did not know was that Annabeth had Day 6 in the pool.


	5. Epilog

A/N - Forgive me, just one little added fillip.

Disclaimer: Hart of Dixie own I do not.

Coming Up For Air Epilog

It was a sunny midday Saturday in Bluebell, Brick had recovered from his hangover and gone on his football trip, Lemon was taking a well-deserved day off, and Zoe had stopped in to the Rammer Jammer for a cheeseburger and fries on her lunch break. While it was cooking, Wade was behind the counter getting her napkins, flatware, and iced tea when he saw Rose walk in, who immediately saw Zoe and lasered to her as if she were magnetized. With a grin, Wade sauntered up to the table with her things.

"…got to tell me everything," Wade heard Rose say.

Zoe gaped at Rose, laughed, and glanced up at Wade, blushing the deepest, prettiest red he had ever seen. Wade set her things down, smiled at them both, pulled out a chair and spun it around so he could prop his arms and chin on the back, and sat down.

"I'll tell her," Wade said as Zoe continued to stare wide-eyed at him. Rose very nearly squealed with delight, and actually did clap her hands together, before she pulled her chair up close to the table and hunched over conspiratorially.

Wade sat still for a minute, as if thinking, then he held out his hands in front of him, about a foot apart, fingers out, like he was holding a basketball.

"It's like…you know what happens when atoms go through black holes? Or end up at the core of the sun? The pressures and temperatures are beyond imagination, atoms are crushed together so tight, at millions of degrees, matter literally doesn't matter, atoms become liquid and gas and solid almost at the same time, things get mushed together so much that things become other things, it's down where you get your heavier metals, iron, lead, gold, platinum, and your more complex elements…" as Wade spoke, he moved his hands closer and closer together until it looked like he was trying to crush an imaginary golf ball, "…it's a lot like that."

Zoe nodded solemnly. "Only different. And with humans."

"And chocolate," Wade added, "Oh, gotta go ladies, orders up," and with that Wade stood up, kissed both Rose and Zoe on the forehead and went to get Zoe's cheeseburger.


End file.
